


Sweet Thing in a Glass Cage

by Sinfully_Salty, TeamAlphaQ



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Dark, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Pre-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 17:39:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16433906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinfully_Salty/pseuds/Sinfully_Salty, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamAlphaQ/pseuds/TeamAlphaQ
Summary: A heavy revision to 'Rito Adventures in Adultery'. It's the same concept as the original, but a better plot, new characters, more focus on Kass's childhood, etc.Kass was always a fragile, innocent boy.Teba... wasn't.





	1. School Days

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, this is about to get very dark, very quickly.  
> Enjoy.

As a child, Kass had always wondered what it was that made him so different from his peers.

Sure he’d always been a little taller than the average Rito, his plumage a bit more colorful than the norm, but there were other distinctive children among them and they seemed to get along just fine, right?

No, it wasn’t just physical attributes that isolated him. It couldn’t be. He’d managed to figure out that it wasn’t how he _looked_ but... That could really only leave one determining factor. One he was much less comfortable with.

There was something wrong with who he _was_.

 

~

 

Golden eyes stared back at him from the puddle, blurred with tears and red from crying. They were foreign to him, puffy and irritated, brimming with hurt and anger. These were the eyes of a weakling. A loser. An outcast. Eyes of a disgrace, as the schoolyard bullies would so eagerly remind him, day in and day out.

It was almost a game to them; setting their talons in and seeing who could rip out the largest pieces of his heart. They feasted upon his sorrows like ravenous lynels, continuously tearing the substance from his soul and yet never quite full enough to stop. It didn’t matter how many tears he shed, how many bruises he garnered along the way. They wouldn’t stop until one of them could be declared the victor of their cruel game, the winner being paraded about as some sort of hero while leaving the sole victim of his conquest struggling to put himself together again.

Today had left him worse off than even he was accustomed to, their taunts and insults escalating into a rock-throwing contest with a certain rito as the target. He’d managed to avoid most of the larger stones they threw; all but one had hit, leaving him with what would no doubt be a nasty bruise the next morning. The smaller, sharper stones, however, had managed to hit their mark on more than one occasion, stinging welts left where they had grazed his skin.

But these weren’t the worst of his concerns.

The scrapes and bruises would, at the very least, heal with time, a fact which he took some comfort in. After all, his body could recover. No lasting damage had been done. At least, none of the physical nature. The physical injuries stung, yes, but they didn’t necessarily _hurt_.

No, it was the words that had hurt. It was the words that had stung him where it mattered.

They’d cut deeper than any rock could. Bruised harder than any kick or punch.

Words didn’t just fade away with time. Not like the cuts and bruises. Not like the time he’d sprained his ankle running from the bullies. Even the cracked beak he’d gotten after telling the teacher of his abuses had eventually grown out. The physical injuries all left him at some point or another.

But the words never did.

They festered, growing deeper and darker the more he thought of them, the more he tried to block them out. They got _worse_ with time, not better, not like the injuries that adorned his flesh. The punches, the kicks, the scrapes, those he could deal with. He could handle them. But the words… The words never lost their edge. Because deep down… Deep down he _knew_.

He knew, regardless of whether or not they even knew it, they were right.

He was different. He was a freak. He was a monster.

His reflection taunted him. Those golden eyes, now red and puffy from crying, only reminded him of how truly broken he was inside. His features twisted by the rippling his tears had caused mocked him. His reflection took his pain and spat it back at him, laughing as it did so, some cruel, cosmic joke no doubt.

He couldn’t bear the sight any longer, turning away from the puddle and his demons within. He curled in upon himself. Soon the others would leave him be. They’d find some new plaything to torment. It wouldn’t be as fun as tearing him apart, but it would be better than nothing. It was only a matter of time.

And they did.

They left him.

All but one, anyway.

 

~

 

His mother had been the one to comfort him when he’d run home that day, beaten and crying. She’d been the one to dry his eyes and hold him close. She’d been the one to ask, again and again, who was doing this to him, only to be met with more tears and vehement denials each and every time. She was the one who lay awake at night, tears streaming down her face in a silent apology for her failure to protect him.

She’d offered to keep him home, of course, but both he and her husband had refused the idea, the both of them too stubborn to give in to some schoolyard bullies. It was the one thing, she supposed, other than his looks, that he’d inherited from his father. His stubbornness was almost legendary in their household. Even as a toddler he’d had the same iron will, refusing to bend until he’d pushed his parents to their limits.

But he’d always had her heart.

He’d always had her caring soul, her emotional nature. She saw it in him whenever he cried over what would be otherwise trivial things. Where most would see spilled wheat, he’d see a waste of someone else’s labors. A broken vase was a desecration of artistic merit. A dead animal was a life cut tragically short, regardless of how old it was.

She remembered the day he’d found an injured bird outside their home. He’d taken it in and cared for it as though it were his own. He’d scavenged all over the village and it’s surrounding spires, looking for bugs and seeds to nurture his injured companion. He’d nursed it for two weeks before it finally gave out, its weak little body lying limp in his hands, the life snuffed out of it. She’d walked in on her son sitting motionless in the middle of the room, tears streaming silently down his face.

The same tears she cried now.

The tears she’d given him to spill. Tears that had, to some extent, been her fault.

So she apologized in her silence, again and again. For every time he came home bruised and broken. Every time he broke down in her arms. Every time he’d cried because she’d done the same. Every time he’d been hurt. Every time she’d been unable to protect him.

This was all she could do for her boy, now.

This was all she could do for herself.

 

~

 

He watched carefully, from a distance, lest he disturb the crying boy. He’d been watching him for a while now, making sure nobody came close enough to find him. He wouldn’t let them torment the poor rito anymore, regardless of what happened to him as a result. He knew what it was like to be pushed to your limits for someone else’s gain and he wasn’t going to let that happen to anyone else.

When he was sure the others had given up, he climbed the nearest tree and just watched as the boy cried. He’d have gone and comforted him, but he wasn’t sure how he could. This would have to do for now, he’d decided. Keeping him safe would have to be enough, for now.

He waited there until the boy stopped crying and collected himself, as he shook the dirt and dust from his clothes. He watched, from his perch, as he sniffled one last time before trudging home, tears still fresh in his eyes.

When the boy was far enough away, he made his way down the tree. He moved slowly, both to avoid drawing attention to himself and to avoid falling. He walked quietly behind the rito, at enough of a distance for the tapping of his claws against the ground to be drowned out by the sounds of the village.

He wasn’t quite sure how, but he knew none-the-less that he’d keep the boy safe on his way home. It was a promise more to himself than the rito in question, but a promise all the same.

And so he did.

He kept him safe.

His silent promise.


	2. Friends, Maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fragile soul meets a not-so-fragile soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to TeamAlphaQ for their edits and revisions.

 

The morning had been an ordeal for Kass.

He had woken up stiff and sore, his body aching with every shift of the breeze. His mother fretted over the cuts and bruises littering his back while his father chided her for “Giving the boy a headache that likely rivaled his injuries,” earning him a harsh glare, though she relented her worrying for the moment.

“I just don’t see why you won’t tell us who did this to you,” her gaze softened, “We could help you…”

Kass glanced at his feet, “You can’t help with this.”

“Well, we can’t even try if you won’t give us any names,” his father took the pause as an opportunity to speak, pulling his son close and looking him in the eyes. “Who’s doing this? Who’s been hurting you?”

“I’m going to be late,” he muttered, ducking out from under his father’s arms as he turned to leave, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“But-” His mother’s attempt to pry was cut short by his father.

“That’s… That’s enough Genil. The boy doesn’t want to tell us. No need for us to add to his troubles.”

“That doesn’t mean we can just let this happen to him, Khaal!”

“It doesn’t help things any better to push him to tell us, either.”

“I don’t see where you get off…” 

Their voices faded into the background as Kass made his way to Revali’s Landing. He pushed thoughts of his parents fighting to the back of his mind, choosing instead to focus on the lesson Kaneli would be giving his class today. Maybe they’d take the day to learn about the life before the Calamity. He always enjoyed history lessons. The other children couldn’t bully him when Kaneli had them gathered ‘round for a story.

Kass hoped this would be the case today.

He needed it to be the case.

 

~•~

 

He watched the boy as he walked to the platform. Watched, as he sat down, slowly, likely in pain as a result of yesterday’s ‘game’. Observed him as he ignored the murmurs and hushed laughter. Witnessed as Verla approached him from behind, a rather large, dead frog in hand. 

Clenched his fists, as he called out to the boy.

“Hey pussy, have a snack.”

And suddenly, he wasn’t watching anymore.

In an instant, he was on his feet. As the boy, Kass, turned to see what new cruelty the bully had invented today. Walking over as Bedoli and Laissa stopped laughing. Tapping Verla on the shoulder as Guy’s eyes widened. Drawing back as Huck opened his beak to give warning to their unofficial leader.

But it was too late.

His fist connected. Silence followed. He could have heard a pebble drop into the lake below if he’d listened hard enough. Things stilled. Nobody dared move, out of awe or fear he didn’t know. He didn’t care.

Then things began to move again.

“What the  **fuck** do you think you’re doing?” Verla spat at him, shock giving way to outrage.

“Y-yeah what do you think you’re doing!” Huck stepped in, rushing to Verla’s aide as always.

“Geez, what a lame-ass...” Bedoli chimed in now.

Her sister, Laissa, finished the thought, “ Yeah, way to ruin our fun.”

Guy stepped in now, “Bedoli’s right, you ruined our fun!”

“Of course I’m right.”

“B-but  _ I  _ was the one who said-”

“Shut up Laissa. I’m right.”

“Verla, Bedoli’s tryin’ to take credit for stuff I say again!”

But Verla wasn’t worried about their little tiff. He was focused on the stone-faced rito in front of him.

“You deaf or something? I asked you a question!”

“H-hey, the boss asked ya’ a q-question… You better respond or else I’ll, uh, p-punch you back!”

“Shut up Huck.”

“Y-yes, sir…”

But, like Verla, this boy wasn’t interested in their little tiff, either. He turned to the wide-eyed rito sitting in front of him, still taken aback by what had just happened. He offered his hand to the boy.

“I’m Teba. You okay?”

 

~•~

 

Kass sat in stunned silence for a few minutes. Nobody had ever done that before. Nobody had ever… stood up for him like that. He wasn’t sure what he felt, wasn’t sure what he  _ should _ feel. Was this boy just trying to get a better standing so he could bully him, too? Was he just mad at Verla? Or… Or was he really just standing up for him?

He sat, rooted to the ground with nerves, as the boy leaned down to his level, ignoring the squabbling going on around them both. Sat, as he offered his hand with his name. Stared, as he asked if Kass was okay. Swallowed, as he smiled without a trace of mocking or malice.

It was all so new to the boy, so confusing. Nobody’d ever so much as looked his way without some cruel intent and here was this boy, smiling at him, helping him… A rush of emotions overcame him, washing away any doubts he had about his hero. About Teba.

And he cried.

“W-wait, no, don’t be sad! Please! I didn’t mean to upset you! I-I can apologize if that’s what you want! I’ll let you punch me! Just please don’t cry!” The rito started to panic. This wasn’t the reaction he’d anticipated. “You can sit with me at lunch. I’ve got salmon! You… You do like salmon, don’t you? I mean, your mom always makes it for you so I figured-”

He cut him off with a sudden embrace, tears still falling as he did.

“Thank you,” was all he could say. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you…”

Now it was Teba’s turn to still in surprise. This boy had just gone from shock to bawling his eyes out to… happiness? Was that what this was? If it was, he didn’t want to see what the boy’s response would have been if he was sad.

“It’s not a big deal or anything...” He was getting a bit flustered. A stranger was hugging him in front of their class.

“Th-thank you so much…”

“I said it’s not a big deal. Now c’mon, you’re gonna stain my feathers.”

Kass realized what he was doing, quickly pulling away and wiping his face. His face heated when he noticed more than a few curious glances being thrown his way.

“S-so uh,” he looked up at the boy, “Could we be… Friends? Maybe?”

“Sure. Friends-maybe.”

“That’s not what I-”

“I know what you meant.”

 

~•~

 

As Kaneli approached the Landing, he was surprised to see Kass happily chatting away with an equally happy Teba while Verla and co. sulked on the other side of the platform. He chuckled to himself when he noticed the way he gripped his cheek. While he never condoned violence amongst his charges, he had to admit, the boy had it coming.

“Hello everyone, apologies for the late arrival. Mrs. Lokani was just feeling a bit under-the-weather this morning.” The class’s attention turned to their teacher, who’d brought with him a fairly large book. Kass gave a knowing smile at the sight, his eyes brightening even more when he turned to the middle. He remembered the boy being particularly interested in a certain chapter. “Now, where did we leave off? Somewhere around the discovery of the Champion’s Hymns, if memory serves…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, Que. You're a blessing.


	3. Lovely Moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! The long awaited chapter three! I know I promised this would be out WAY earlier, but we had some troubles along the way. It's here now, though, so enjoy!  
> Thanks, as always, to Que for her much appreciated help.

By the time Kaneli had finished his reading of the ancient Sheikah riddles and prophecies surrounding the selection of Hyrule’s champions, most of the class was either dozing off or completely enraptured by their mentor’s storytelling. Teba, though normally a part of the former group, had remained awake this time around in spite of his efforts, what with Kass’s constant stream of questions over his opinions of the complexity of the rituals and how mystifying the champion’s trials sounded. While at first he’d been charmed by his new friend’s fascination with the subject, he’d soon realized how much of a fanatic Kass was over the ancient legends. The boy had about talked his ear off, and by the time Kaneli finished the lesson, something about an ancient test of a champion’s might, Teba was mentally begging for the subject to come to a close.

“...But anyways, that’s enough about  _ my _ thoughts on it. So what do you like the most about Kaneli’s stories?”

At this, Teba paused, carefully considering his answer. It wasn’t for concern of a brash response, somehow offending Kass’s love for the subject, rather, it was simply that he’d just never bothered to think about the issue before. After a brief pause, he replied, “I like learning about Revali. He’s pretty cool, I guess...”

Kass opened his beak to release what was no doubt a flood of information regarding the famed Rito archer, only to be halted by the approach of a new rito.

“Hey, Teba! Just finished my lesson with Mr. Tomi. Who’s yer new pal?”

The rather jovial greeting had come from a surprisingly blank-faced boy, roughly their age if looks were to be trusted. Kass recognized the boy as the son of the second-in-command of the local guard, though his name escaped him. He’d often seen him in the background of classes, expression always neutral, regardless of what was happening around him. Apparently, he was also a friend of Teba.

“I was wondering where you were. Harth, Kass. Kass, Harth.” And then, whispering, “Just between you and me, he’s a total pushover.”

“Hey!” Harth exclaimed. “You can’t just tell him stuff about people he hasn’t even met yet! What if he thinks I’m really a pushover ‘cus of that?”

“Then he’ll be right.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Hey, can you tune my bow for me?”

“Sure thing!”

“How about fixing the quiver strap?”

“No problem.”

“And the string nock?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I’ll also need the grip adjusted.”

“U-umm, sure?”

“Told ya’ you’re a pushover!”

“H-hey, wait! That’s no fair! I always do the bow maintenance stuff!”

Kass laughed a bit at the scene before him. Teba had put Harth into a headlock and was ruffling his feathers until he admitted to being a pushover, both boys laughing when it was done. Harth turned his attention to Kass, a bit out of breath, but otherwise still blank-faced.

“So you’re Kass, right? I think your mom and my mom used to work together… Doesn’t she run the Slippery Falcon now?”

“Y-yeah, that sounds about right,” he looked down, suddenly nervous.

“And your dad’s the guy who helps Kaneli write all those history books, right?”

“U-umm, he actually writ-erm, transcribes, old texts b-but, basically, I guess.”

Harth nudged him with a wing. “Hey, there’s no need to be shy. I’m not gonna turn into a Lynel and bite your head off or anything.”

“I-I, uh, well…”

Teba stepped in, “Hey Harth, bring it back a bit. Kass isn’t really the chatty type.”

“Oh! Sorry about that! Guess I got a bit ahead of myself there… So, yeah! I’m Harth! Nice to meet ya’!” He offered his hand, which Kass hesitantly shook. “I sure hope we can be buddies like me’n’Teba!”

“Yeah, I-I’d like that, too.”

He liked Harth, he decided. Even if he was a bit... intense.

Teba spoke up. “So where do you usually sit for lunch, Kass?”

“Um, I usually sit behind the old shrine. Why? Where do you usually sit?”

“I like to sit up on the spire, but Harth doesn’t like getting that close to Vah Medoh because it freaks him out.”

“Just because  _ you _ aren’t afraid of a huge machine demon…” Harth began.

“It’s just an old robot. It’s not even activated, for Goddess’s sake. Anyway, you wanna join us up there?”

“Sure! I mean, yeah, if you’ll have me.”

“But we invited you…”

 

~•~

 

With the formalities out of the way, the boys went up to the spire.

Teba climbed the massive stone structure with ease while Harth and Kass lagged behind. Kass, having never gone further than the first outcrop, naturally struggled with the climb, unsure of where he could trust his footing or find a good grip. Harth, on the other hand, struggled not with the climb, but rather the destination. 

Teba had been right about his fear of Vah Medoh. It just felt wrong, what with the way the mechanical monolith just sat there, supposedly standing guard over the guard over their community when it could have just as easily been put in place to destroy it. For all they knew, it could just start flying around shooting lasers everywhere at a moments notice, like the Guardians he’d been told about by the elders.

“Hey are you guys alright back there?” Teba called from several meters above the pair.

“Y-yeah, just hard to find a good foothold,” Kass responded, “A-are you sure this is safe?”

“Sure as the sky is blue.”

“That’s easy to say for you, Mr. ‘Kaneli-already-taught-me-to-glide’”

“Hey, when you’re my age…”

“I’m a day younger than you!” Harth squeaked.

“And about a year behind,” Teba teased, his eyes glittering.

“Hey, um, not to interrupt, but… isn’t it a bit dangerous to fight during a climb?” Kass wondered aloud.

“Only if you’re a wimp!”

“I think he’s got a good point, Teba.”

“So you’re both wimps, then.”

“I-I think I’d rather be a wimp than, well, y’know, dead...”

Finally, Teba faltered. “Sh-shut up.”

And with that, they proceeded in silence, broken only by Kass’s occasional slip and Teba’s check-ups. At one point Harth had nearly dropped his lunch bag, leading to a brief scuffle to catch it and a hearty laugh from Teba. Kass, on the other hand, had nearly lost his grip on the rock at the sight of Harth holding on with only one hand, frantically scrabbling his way back to a safe position. 

Once they reached the top, Kass was taken aback by the view, the entirety of Tabantha visible in the distance, the region sprawling out beneath the spire. It felt like he was on top of the world, able to see both Hebra Summit to the north and Death Mountain far off to the west. For the first time in his life, with the world open before him like this, he started to feel strangely free, disconnected from the troubles of the village below and his tormentors within.

Turning back to face his new friends, he saw it. The reason Harth so disliked this place. The reason Teba was so fascinated by it. The reason the elders respected it. 

The beast.

It was massive, towering above the world, nearly half the height of the rock formation it sat upon. It was a mass of stone and metal, glyphs covering its form, humming and glowing a faint reddish-orange. It was impossibly complex; composed of gears and springs and other mechanical bits and pieces he couldn’t possibly begin to describe, ranging in size from a fairy to twice his height. They spun and flicked, clicking and whirring almost as though they were… counting down to something. The beast remained otherwise motionless, sitting and keeping guard over the village, as the elders liked to say. 

Up close, Kass could see why Harth might be right. He’d heard the stories. The champions of old, trapped in the beasts when the calamity struck, fates sealed the moment Ganon took control of the ancient technology within. Whether or not the horror still had control was unknown, something the elders believed was best untested, in spite of their insistence upon the beast’s service to the village.

“Impressive innit? To think someone built this?” Teba stood at his side, “They say it could fly faster than an arrow fired from even the goddess’s sacred bow. Cool, huh?”

“Y-yeah, that’s one word for it…” Kass mumbled, his eyes roving the massive mechanical monster.

“Well personally,” Harth stepped up, “I think it’s a big ol’ monster made to stomp on the village and gobble us all up.”

“That’s just a campfire story they tell to chicks. Geez, what are you, a hatchling?”

“I’m a less than a day younger than you. A single  _ day _ . Not even a full 24 hours.”

“You know, when I was your age, I was taught to respect my elders…”

“That was yesterday’s lecture from Kaneli!”

“Like I said, when I was your age…”

Harth continued to bicker while Teba goaded him on, the former growing more and more flustered as the quarrel went on, much to Teba’s delight. Teba chuckled to himself at the contrast between Harth’s near-expressionless face and his increasingly heated tone. He never tired of the way the boy could be so lively and passionate in personality and so inexpressive in regard to anything other than his voice. 

Teba remembered how when they’d first met, he’d thought he was simply uninterested in anything he had to say, only picking up on the subtle changes in his posture and the look in his eyes after a year of careful studying. It had come in handy when the boy was sad or just in a quiet mood, letting him approach the situation appropriately without needing to hear him speak first, though now he mainly used it to tease him mercilessly.

 

~•~

 

When all was said and done, the three boys sat at the base of the beast, Teba choosing to lean against one of its talons while Harth distanced himself from it as much as possible. They’d each brought something different for a meal, Harth bringing a slightly overcooked but otherwise fine fish pie, Kass bringing his mother’s favorite: salmon meuniere, and Teba bringing a small, undercooked cut from what was supposedly a roasted salmon.

Harth was chatting with Kass about Mr. Tomi, his current mentor, and how he was teaching him all about building and maintaining bows. Kass listened, eyes wide with fascination as the boy went on and on, clearly a very enthusiastic pupil of the bowsmith.

“And he says that someday, when I’m good enough at it, he’ll teach me to make a Great Eagle Bow, Just like the one Revali used to use! But apparently it’s too powerful to make more than one at a time… Something about it ‘falling into the wrong person’s hands’ or something...”

“Wow, r-really? That’s so cool…”

“I know right? I can’t wait to be as skilled as he is someday! ...But all I can make right now are Falcon and Swallow Bows…”

“That’s still really good...”

“W-well, I can fire three bull’s-eyes in a row.” Teba interjected, unsure why he was suddenly feeling… jealous? Of Harth? No, he was just being a show-off, besides his father didn’t care much for boasting. “I mean, not that, um… Yeah, Harth’s thing is pretty cool, too, I guess.”

The two boys just stared at him for a minute before returning to their prior conversation. Teba was suddenly no longer interested in finishing his salmon, looking down at it with disinterest before flicking it away and over the ledge.

 

~•~

 

The boys decided to go to Harth’s after their classes finished, Kass first needing to get permission from his parents, as well as introduce his new friends. They walked down from the landing, taking the stairs that spiralled along the village to the bridges connecting the primary village center with the huts scattered around the nearby stable. Kass showed them the way to his house, located on the cliff overlooking the stable alongside several others of similar structure. 

His home was a part of the original village, built before the tribe had started construction around the stone spire which served as its current base. According to his mother and father, the Rito had only started building the ‘new village’ around 150 years ago, while the original village was built centuries prior. Their house, being one of the oldest in the area, had been passed down through generations of their family, clearly built to last much longer than the plain wooden structures of the village.

His father greeted them at the door, raising an eyebrow upon seeing Kass’s friends.

“I see you brought guests.”

“Yeah,” Kass said, lifting his eyes up to meet his father’s.

“And would you care to introduce us?”

“Oh! U-um, yeah! This is Teba and uh… Harth. They’re my, um, my friends, I guess,” He turned to the two boys, nervously waving them forward. “T-teba, Harth, meet my, uh, my dad.”

Harth offered a wing, “Name’s Harth. Nice to meet ya’ sir!”

His father returned the gesture, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you as well. Harth, you say? I worked with your father for quite a while. Good man.”

He then turned his gaze to Teba, who shied away, looking down before reluctantly offering his name. “It’s Teba.”

“You’re Erikk’s boy then… Haven’t seen him in a while. Not after what happened with-”

At this moment, Kass’s mother, nearly tripping over herself to get to the door, rushed to greet the boys.

“Oh Kass, you brought friends! Harth! How’s your mother doing? Good? Good! Oh it’s been so long since I last talked with Trall… And how’s Follin? Still the head strategist I presume? What am I saying, of course he is, always had a mind for combat that one. And you must be-” her gaze softened a bit upon realizing who the other boy was, “You must be Teba. I’m so sorry for what happened with Quith. If you ever need anything, and I mean  _ anything _ , just tell us okay sweetie? Tell me, how’s Erikk handling-”

“U-umm, we were just about to go to Harth’s place. Kass was actually just here to tell you before we left, right?” Teba hurried Kass&Co. towards the door, pushing them along with his wings.

“Yeah…” Kass replied, a bit confused as to their sudden rush.  _ I thought we were going to talk to my parents... _

“Oh, well, um... have fun boys! Don’t stay out too late! And Kass, if you’re going to stay overnight, don’t forget to tell me, okay?” his mother called after him.

“Y-yeah, sure thing-” He was cut off by Teba pulling him through the doorway. “Hey what gives?”

“We don’t want to be late!” Teba insisted, his voice forceful

“Sure was lovely to meet y’all and might I just say you have a  _ lovely _ home!” Harth called out, closing the door behind them before turning to Teba, “Hey what the hell was that all about?” he demanded of of the taller Rito. “I thought we were going to meet Kass’s parents to make a good impression, not to leave with their son before they even have a chance to wave goodbye!”

“I just don’t like when people talk about… you know.” Teba’s expression clouded over. “I don’t want anyone’s pity.”

“That was four years ago! I thought you were over that by now!”

“U-umm, I don’t mean to get in the way or anything, but what exactly happened four years ago?”

The boys stopped their fighting and turned to Kass.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know. Uh, Teba, I’ll let you handle this. I’m gonna go tell Pops to expect a third tonight, assuming you’ll be staying over again, that is.”

“I- Wait, Harth don’t-” But the rito had already rushed ahead, out of earshot.

Teba sighed, turning to Kass. “Okay, so you probably already know about the guardian incident, since you’re a history nerd and all that but, um, you know how a few years back we had to call in zora to fix that weird murky stuff in the water?”

“You’re talking about the leftover blight from the guardian attack, right? The stuff that got into the water and made that weird sludge?”

“Yeah, that. Um, so, the captain of the guard. The previous one, from b-before it was Father. That’s-that  _ was _ my mother. She was the one who took down the rogue guardian, but then-then she got sick. Like, really sick. Kaneli, um, said it was something to do with that murky stuff in the water. Apparently she fell into it during the fight when she was shot down. Um, after that she started coughing up more of the murky stuff and she just kept getting sicker and sicker and then she just… She couldn’t do it anymore. They-they said she couldn’t keep f-fighting it and…”

“Teba…”

“No. No it’s better now.” There was resolve in his tone, but sadness in his eyes that Kass needed to reach out and touch. If only for his new freind’s sake. “I don’t need anybody’s pity. That was years ago. I’m not some little hatchling anymore.”

“Teba.”

“I’m not scared of it anymore, Kass. I’m not scared of it and I won’t ever be again.”

“Teba, look at me.”

Silence.

That was all there was. All there need be. What had to be said, was said. Golden eyes met golden eyes and that was enough.

And so, for the first time in four years, Teba cried. He cried when Kass held him close, when he offered whispered condolences and words of comfort, when Harth and his Father came to collect them both for the night. He stopped, eventually, of course. When the tears refused to come anymore and his voice gave up on him. They didn’t speak of it again that evening, nor would they ever for quite some time. They simply enjoyed each other’s company, playing tag and catching fireflies well into the night. Three boys, blissfully unaware of the sufferings to come, enjoying what were otherwise life’s cherished little lovely moments.

 

~•~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We're doing a thing on Tumblr! Check it out!
> 
> https://saltedsins.tumblr.com/post/180678076576/hey-stg-readers


	4. A Brief Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an update on things.

Hello, Salt here. Unfortunately, due to a recent parting, this particular work will be taking a brief hiatus. Other materials might be posted in the meanwhile, but this, specifically, is something Que and I must take a break from. Don't worry about another RAA situation, for I  **will** be returning to this in due time. The hiatus should only be for about a month or so, and I hope to see you all then. Farewell for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to TeamAlphaQ for beta reading/editing!


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